Saku: Lunar Eclipse
by faerygirl14
Summary: Amuto! After a year has passed, the Embryo is nowhere to be found. However, Easter begins to become active once again, and a girl, Mitsuki, appears. Her arrival causes complicated relationships and tangled feelings, and a frustrating mystery. T for deaths
1. Hajimaru はじまり

A tall, silver-haired, pale-skinned girl looked around the train station. She frowned, and spoke to a nearby conductor in a clear, lilting, bell-like voice.

"Where is Seiyo Junior High?" she asked, her accent flawless despite her foreign looks.

The conductor pointed, and she left. Strangely, no one seemed to remember her after that, though she was so noticeable.

**Chapter One: Hajimaru**

(Hajimaru means "to start" in Japanese.)

**Guardians' Teahouse, Seiyo Junior High**

All five Guardians slumped their fancy chairs, defeated.

"It's been a whole year since the Embryo was last seen." Nagihiko, the only one who still had even a shred of drive, tried to work everyone up.

"We can find it! It'll turn up soon, after all. We've been elected the middle school Guardians, after all. Finding the Embryo will be nothing next to that!" Tadase, ever the moderator, albeit a useless one, tried to pitch in. Needless to say, he didn't succeed at all, and kept throwing glances at Kukkai, the Ace, who was fast asleep, his beanie hat over his face.

"I can't believe the middle school compound even _has_ a Guardian system." Rima mumbled.

Sighing, Nagihiko picked up his papers and left, and everyone followed suit. Another failed Guardian meeting to find the Embryo, which had yet to appear.

Amu drifted into class, in a somewhat dreamlike state. She was glad that Ikuto's stepfather had been disposed of, but… Gozen, the mastermind, was still at large. And so, Ikuto was still bound somewhat, as well as Utau. Could they truly be freed without the Embryo's help? But, Tadase needed the Embryo as well… And all the Guardians had wishes How many wishes _could_ the Embryo grant? And what was her wish? Her thoughts were interrupted as Nikaidou-sensei came in.

"Please welcome our new student! This is Shirozora Mitsuki-chan! She's a… well, her family moved to England and now she's back." Nikaidou seemed hesitant for a second, but the hesitation disappeared in an instant.

Quite predictably, rumors began to fly around the new student in an instant.

"I heard she used to be a model in England!"

"She has a boyfriend who's a famous actor!"

"She's won tons of beauty pageants! Imagine!"

Amu sighed and went to the new student. "Good Morning. I'm Hinamori Amu, I'm one of the Guardians. Please ask me if you need to know everything."

For some reason, the girl recoiled when she heard the word "Guardian." "Hah! A guardian indeed! Well, don't think you're so high-and-mighty, miss. You fools – you're contaminating this world with your selfishness." the beautiful girl scowled at Amu.

At those words, Amu's fragile "outside-character" mask slipped. "Well, don't think you're so great just because you have looks! We do a lot for this school!" _More than you could ever know! We purify all those broken dreams! _"Don't _ever_ say we don't do anything!"

The new girl – Mitsuki – was unimpressed. "Hmph. You stray from your original purpose, you selfishly think that your wishes should all be granted."

For a moment, Amu's mind went blank with surprise. Did she know? Did she know everything, about the Embryo, about how she had wanted those wishes to come true so badly?

Then, the bell rang.

**The Park**

The sky was black, completely devoid of light. The pale girl looked up at the full moon, her namesake, as she waited. A single leaf fell from a tree behind her. Immediately, she seemed to disappear from the spot as she moved too fast for human eyes to follow, and spotted the black silhouette of a person on the tree.

"As fast as ever, I see." A silky whisper snaked through the air.

"Who are you?" Mitsuki demanded, but her words were ignored.

Instantly after, bolts of glittering purple struck the very spot she had moved to, and she weaved through the danger. A bright light flashed through the air, and a few eggs, formerly black and almost invisible, seemed to suddenly have been rinsed and became a light pink color, then rose to disappear into the air. The remaining eggs, still black and with an X on them, hovered to surround her.

Mitsuki tensed for the final strike. It never came. At that particular moment, Tadase, with the rest of the Guardians in his wake, came by. Whoever was creating the chaos had disappeared, and the X eggs surrounded Mitsuki.

"You…" Amu's eyes stared at her as she tried to process this scene. It all made sense to her now. Her blatant hatred of the Guardians, her knowledge of the Embryo… She was causing the X's on the eggs.

Mitsuki turned around and stared back, cold, unrelenting, the sharp edge of her personality crawling into her gaze. She knew what it looked like to them. She didn't care.

And then, with all five Guardians – Amu, Rima, Nagihiko, Kukkai and Tadase – staring, shock on their faces, she disappeared in a blur.


	2. Hi ひ

Some say the world will end in fire,  

Some say in ice.

Robert Frost

I don't own any characters, ideas, etc. etc. etc. Yeah, yeah, I get the point already! I don't see any POINT in suing me anyways, though.

**Chapter Two: Hi**

(The chapter name is Japanese. Hi (pronounced "hee") can mean both fire and ice.)

The new girl had yet to show up. It was already lunchtime, and yet she hadn't appeared at all in school. Amu didn't even know if she would show up here ever again, now that her secret had been found. Her fury made her oblivious to the good weather as the sunlight filtered in through the glass of the teahouse. It was not helping that Tadase kept insisting that it must be a mistake.

"Look, just because she had a bunch of X Eggs around her doesn't mean that she created them!"

"Yes, and she runs away instead of explaining?" Rima said calmly, as always. Kusukusu giggled, unaware, as always, of the tension.

Tadase's face reddened, but he persisted. "Look, we can just talk to her! Talking will solve more than blaming."

Nagihiko sighed. "In the past week, the number of X Eggs has unexpectedly risen! Why? Well, if you cross-reference it with the girl – with Mitsuki's arrival time in Japan…" Surprisingly, since Nagihiko had entered junior high, he had become a lot like Kairi with his data-gathering, although he still retained his gentle atmosphere.

Amu scowled into her tea. Why was Tadase taking this girl's side? Why? She didn't like it at all. As the bell rang again, she stomped back into the classroom.

Mitsuki was still absent. Amu decided to take the initiative and all but dragged Nikaidou-sensei into a conversation after school.

"Where's Mitsuki? Is she involved with Easter?"

Nikaidou frowned. "She's sick with a high fever. And, anyways, you know I'm not with Easter anymore. Although… I don't know. I feel… well… there's something strange about her. I can't turn her heart's egg into an X. I can't even _feel _it, not at all."

"You tried to darken her heart's egg?" Amu heard herself say with disbelief.

"Not at all. But, I can tell, usually, even without trying, how strong a person's egg is, how close to the breaking point it is."

"High fever… as if." Amu muttered and, copying down Mitsuki's address, raced to the street on it, her Charas barely fast enough to follow.

Finally, she arrived at an apartment building. She rang the doorbell once, but, after two minutes, as there was no response, impatiently started pushing the button like crazy.

After two whole minutes, she was finally rewarded with a mumble of "Coming."

To Amu's surprise, Mitsuki really _did_ look sick. Her face was so pale that it looked like you could see through it. It was much pale that normal. However, her face looked like a cherry, it was so red.

Mitsuki obviously was energetic enough to scowl, though. "What do you want?" she asked, her voice not nearly as clear as before. It was hoarse, and it barely counted as a whisper.

"So you are sick." Amu said disbelievingly.

"Of course." Mitsuki muttered something intelligible. Then, she staggered back into the house.

She didn't close the door fast enough, though, because Amu caught it and walked in after her. "Where are your parents? They should be looking after you."

"Parents?" Mitsuki looked at her like she was crazy.

Amu didn't like feeling inferior. "Look, just because you think you're strong doesn't mean you can just stay on your own. I mean, everyone needs other people's help once in a while. You can act all arrogant and independent, but when—"

Mitsuki cut her off. "_You_ stop being all arrogant. Don't think you know what other people are feeling just like that, you little goody-goody."

Amu scowled at her, wondering if she should count how many times she'd made that facial expression in the last two days. "Anyways, I want answers. Are you involved with Easter? What are you planning? What do you want? Why are you turning eggs into X's?"

The feverish girl looked like she had something to say, then seemed to think better of it. "What I do is none of your business. Leave me alone. I'll get better soon anyways, so just get out of my house. Who invited you here, anyways?"

Amu sniffed disdainfully and walked out. However, Ran tugged at her shirt as she left the building.

"Amu, be careful! What she said back then – she said, 'Human bodies are so stupid!'" Ran insisted urgently.

Amu shrugged. "Probably just too much manga."

Above, on the roof, a shadowy figure smiled self-indulgently.

-- Review! Please review! DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW!


	3. Hoshi no Uta ほし　の　うた

The last of the light of the sun  

That had died in the west

 Still lived for one song more

Yeah, yeah, I don't own the characters and stuff... blah blah blah... Just read it, okay?

**Chapter Three: Hoshi no Uta**

(If you still aren't looking up these titles in the dictionary, this chapter's title means "Song of the Stars.")

Utau walked along the street. She was feeling edgy. And, not to mention, she hadn't had a good ramen-eating contest with Kukkai for two weeks straight.

Across the street, there was a girl with long, straight, silver hair and pale skin looking straight at her. Did she figure out that it was Utau, the celebrity? But before Utau had time to worry, the girl had disappeared into the crowd.

Shaking off her worries, Utau walked into the park. After much pestering, Ikuto had agreed to help her rehearse with his violin. She thought someone was following her, but no one appeared.

"Ikutoooooo!" Utau glomped him, but he dodged at the last second.

"Just start singing." he said in his trademark monotone voice.

She pouted for a second, but as he started playing, she sang with the tune perfectly. She thought she heard an echo of her singing, but it was probably just her imagination.

The evening started to arrive, so they both left the park together.

No one noticed the girl in the trees. The girl with the moonlight hair.

**---**

Mitsuki stared at her fingertips in shock for several minutes. She had originally followed the celebrity because of her strong energy, but… she had never suspected… The violin's sound was so beautiful. It was so familiar, so comforting, but so terribly lonely. Just like… just like that time, that one time, before she had become an Embryo, and when she had been just a regular Shugo Chara, she had heard music just like that.

For a moment, she wondered who the blue-haired boy was. And then, she decided to find out.

**Guardian's Teahouse**

Mitsuki glided gracefully into the teahouse as if she belonged. It really irked Amu that her head was held so arrogantly high. She looked as if she had never gotten sick at all.

"I want a name." She announced. "A blue-haired boy. Plays violin. Has some sort of relationship with some blonde pig-tailed girl. Probably a high-schooler or maybe even college student."

"Wha- What do you want with that stupid cat thief?" Tadase and Kiseki sputtered almost simultaneously, and Nagihiko thought he must have been imagining the jealousy in Tadase's voice.

"He steals cats?" Mitsuki snorted in disbelief.

"Er… no… but what do you want with him?" Amu asked, irritation creeping into her voice. "You want to turn his egg into an X, too?"

Mitsuki narrowed her eyes, and she looked ready to slap Amu. "No, miss-lovesick-undecided. Just tell me already."

Amu all but choked on her tea. "Wh- what did you call me?" She sputtered, her voice unreasonably high. Suu tried, to no avail, to calm her down, so Nagihiko interceded.

Somehow, miraculously, Nagihiko actually managed to calm everyone down with some tea. "So, why do you want to know about Ikuto? We'll tell you if you have a reasonable… reason."

"He seems familiar." Mitsuki said. She stubbornly refused to say any more. Not that she would have – it was embarrassing, after all, to admit that you were chasing after someone.

"We'll tell you more if you tell us about the Embryo." Rima, calmly sipping her tea, said.

Mitsuki sniffed contemptuously. _You still don't know I am the Embryo, do you?_ "So. This is what has become of the legendary Guardians, huh? You were appointed to _protect_ the Embryo and now you seek to use it. How pitiful." _I do not need protecting, but my protectors should not become corrupt. How despicable._

Miki looked up from her sketchbook. "You said that earlier, too, in the classroom. You said something like, 'the Guardians have strayed from their true purpose.'"

"So. You remembered. Well, it's no big wonder the Embryo isn't coming. It probably was disappointed. Well, I'll tell you about the Embryo, then. Let me tell you something. The Embryo is not a regular Heart's Egg. It's the egg of the 'Ultimate Heart,' a heart that is completely pure. It cannot be contaminated with hopelessness. It has a mind, a soul. It can take any shape it wants. It is, more or less, all-powerful." _I am all-powerful. You want me to tell you about the Embryo? I won't tell you about myself, of course. But… if after hearing this, you truly want to pursue it… to pursue me, the Embryo in human form, then… you deserve punishment. You may not have known that you should have protected it at first, but now…_ "The Guardians' initial purpose was to protect the Embryo. So, Guardians, what will you do?" _Will I have to do what I came here to do? Will I have to punish you, eradicate you… fake Guardians?_

PLEASE REVIEW!!! IF YOU DON'T REVIEW I WON'T UPDATE!!! Because either I'm good enough that everyone should be reviewing, or I'm so bad no one will care anyways. So there. XP

Yes, I'm in a bad mood today.


	4. Hitori Ja Nai ひとり　じゃ　ない

The dust of snow

From a hemlock tree  

Has given my heart  

A change of mood

*Ahem* So, these characters (except for two of them) do not belong to me. They belong to Peach-Pit. Because, if they DID belong to me, I'd be rich. XP And have tons of deadlines.

**Chapter Four: Hitori Ja Nai**

(You know what, I'm just gonna forget the comments and just put the translations. . It means "Not Lonely." Of course, in Japanese, you often leave out the subject… so it's up to you, dear reader, to determine the subject. *evil cackle*)

Mitsuki sat in the tree, her eyes closed. She was listening to the music. To the familiar violin. She didn't remember who had played that similar sound so many years ago, but she did know who was playing it now, thanks to the Guardians.

That boy was in college, after all. It didn't really matter to her; she could take any age she wanted to. Age was of no consequence to her, why should it matter to anyone else? Of course, she hadn't actually _talked _to him yet. But… for now, it was enough to just listen.

"Not very skillful, is he?"

"Wha-!" Mitsuki nearly fell off the tree. She hadn't sensed anyone at all. There was no ill intent there.

"That person. Whoever's playing that violin. He's not very good." A dark-skinned, black-haired boy was sitting on the branch above her, looking for all the world like some Arabian prince. His eyes were closed, too, but he was smirking.

"You again. You act as if you know me. Who – what – are you? What do you want? You here to fight again?"

"No…" the boy hesitated for a second, then shrugged. "I'm on leave today."

On leave? Was he working for someone else? That was impossible, wasn't it? "On leave? What do you mean?"

The boy shrugged again. "It means I don't need to waste my time and attack you right now. That's what."

"Well, you certainly seem to be wasting your time anyways." Mitsuki replied sourly, bitter with a mystery she couldn't seem to solve. She couldn't pierce the boy's heart. That was frustrating. "You… you're not human, are you?"

The boy grinned. "About as human as yourself." He laughed at some secret joke Mitsuki couldn't fathom, couldn't even guess at.

"I see." That was a lame reply. Horrendous. What was she coming to? Had she lived fifty years just to be bested by some random weirdo? But there was something strange about him. She thought she felt strong energy. Very strong. But, there was also a hint of the same taint that she felt on X Eggs. Had he been around such heart's eggs for a very long time? Or… was it… Could it be that he was actually…? No, she doubted her second thought very much. It just wasn't possible. "What are you?"

For a minute, the boy looked uncomfortable. A flicker of something – pain? – crossed his face. It disappeared, and Mitsuki wondered if she had seen wrong. "Mysteries are fun, after all." His smirk was back. "Like that person you were listening to. Full of mysteries."

Was he talking about Ikuto? It was true, she _could_ feel foggy mists and dark fogs all around his heart. His heart was a mixed jumble of excruciating loneliness, of a longing for freedom, of slight happiness, of relief, of one person in particular. And the existence of that one person was like a stab in her heart. Could Embryos get jealous? Or was it because she had taken a human body?

The boy next to her winced. That was odd. Did he get stabbed by a twig or something? A bit maliciously, she thought that he really did deserve it. He was an idiot. A scoundrel, a fiend, a moron, an immoral, stupid person.

_Arasu's Point of View_

Sakuya Arasu spotted Mitsuki on the tree. He laughed silently, knowing that she would never guess he was there. Of course not. He didn't carry his killing aura. A shadow of sadness crossed his face, then he chased it away.

The girl was listening to the violin. He had never heard the music before, but it was so painfully familiar. Of course it did. Arasu sighed.

"Not very skillful, is he?" he teased, although behind his cheerful exterior a stab of pain hit him.

He had the pleasure of watching the girl almost fall off the tree. She hadn't sensed him, after all. "You again. You act as if you know me. Who – what – are you? What do you want? You here to fight again?"

"No…" Arasu hesitated. What should he say? He could say, _it's not my fault_, but… well, of course she wouldn't believe him. He _had_ attacked her and laid the blame on her, as well. He shrugged, and told her the closest thing to the truth he could. "I'm on leave today."

"On leave? What do you mean?"

Obviously, if he was saying it like that already, he couldn't really explain any further, could he? What a dense person. Was she _really_ fifty years old? Maybe her human body was hampering her brain. Probably. He shrugged again. "It means I don't need to waste my time and attack you right now. That's what."

"Well, you certainly seem to be wasting your time anyways." Mitsuki replied sourly. Arasu knew she couldn't see into his heart as she could a human's – or as he could hers. It was probably bothering her. "You… you're not human, are you?"

What a stupid question. Of course not. Even if she couldn't see into his heart, he knew she could feel the power emanating from him. "About as human as yourself." He laughed inwardly again. _About as human as yourself_. In more ways than one, of course.

"I see." She seemed to struggle for words for a moment. "What are you?" Well, it was obvious she would have asked that sooner or later.

Arasu sighed. Pain flooded him for a second. He couldn't tell her, of course. He couldn't tell her anything, couldn't even explain himself. Least of all tell her what he was. He chased the pain away. _Someday_. "Mysteries are fun, after all." He smirked, hoping she didn't notice any of the expressions that had crossed his face just a moment ago. "Like that person you were listening to. Full of mysteries." _That stupid person. The person who is, inconceivably, like me, yet not like me. The person who has your attention right now._

Arasu winced. He could feel the jealousy that had entered Mitsuki's heart for a second. When the blue-haired violin player had thought about that pink-haired girl, she had been jealous. And it mirrored in his heart, though for a different person entirely. He sighed as she noticed his wince and uncharitable thoughts swam in her mind. None of them carried any real intent or hatred, luckily. He doubted he could bear it if they did, if she truly hated him.

He left. What else could he do? Arasu was at his limit. He didn't know if he would explode with the feelings inside of him. Foolish, really. He had sunk to the lowest level already, he should be below feelings by now.

What was so great about that stupid violin player? What made _his_ music so special? Why did she like it so much?

---

**Please please review if you read it!!!**

(Especially you, Emily *glare~*)


	5. Yami no Yume やみ　の　ゆめ

When others are sleeping.

 And the dead leaves lie huddled and still,

 No longer blown hither and thither;

Characters don't belong to me, etc. etc. etc. Yeah, whatever. As long as I don't get sued.

**Chapter Six: Kanki**

(Awakening)

Amu barely registered the cold in her bones. It ached, but it ached outside her consciousness. She was still stuck inside her nightmare, inside the nightmare that Tadase no longer cared about her. The jealousy and rage that had burned her had disappeared; it had become simply hopelessness.

She cried. There was nothing left to do with the lack of a bright future she had always believed she would have. Why? Why did that girl, why did that stupid Mitsuki have to come? Did the full moon shine by stealing the light from others? Was that it?

And then, she was vaguely aware of someone else next to her. Someone whose presence was soothing, and lifted her spirits out of their prison of despair. She fell asleep again.

And her nightmares stopped. It seemed like everything she had been feeling for the past day was simply a bad dream. Of _course_ she had someone who loved her. Of course, of course she had a future, had a person she cared for. Why hadn't she known? The sun willingly gave its light, the moon only smiled with the warmth that she shared with her own love. Had she been so blinded by the stars that she had never noticed the earth that she was standing, living, depending on?

"What happened?" a voice asked. It was oddly familiar.

"T-t-tadase…" she mumbled, not quite sure how to say it. "Nothing."

"Forget about Tadase for now."

Amu nodded sleepily. She was tired. Tadase was like an ant in the face of a giant. Who cared about him? He could go die in a hole if he wanted. She didn't ever think she'd care about him in that way again. Maybe, someday, she would come to accept him as brother, as family. Not now. Right now, she wouldn't have cared if he disappeared off the face of the earth.

"Just rest. You have a fever. It's pretty high, 39o Celsius."

Amu's eyes flew open at that. "A fever?" Now that she actually tried to speak aloud, she felt her dry throat emit a hoarse croak. She cleared her throat, and it hurt.

"What were you doing out in the rain? In the middle of the night, too."

The hazy images in front of her eyes cleared, and she saw Ikuto. He was sitting on the bed next to her, but he wasn't the one who was speaking now.

"Amu, you should know better than to look for trouble!" her mom's face tried to look stern, but was just relieved. Like she hadn't ever gone looking for trouble before. Ikuto smiled at their private joke on the side, although luckily, her mom didn't seem to notice.

"Yes, Mama." Amu muttured, trying not to agitate her throat any more. It felt like a desert wind had blown into it, dry and full of sand.

"Drink some of the water, and rest." Her mother ordered, and left the room.

"What was that about Tadase?" Ikuto asked finally, after a long silence, then sighed and looked away.

Amu sensed his uneasiness, but she was feeling just as uncomfortable. "I… well, he's head over heels for that girl. Mitsuki."

"Are you jealous?" Ikuto turned his head back and looked her in the eye, and for once in his life, he seemed to be serious.

"Well… I was," she admitted, but her sleepiness was coming back. She yawned. "I think I'm over it now. I'm over him now." She mumbled the last few words and closed her eyes. Before she was completely out, though, she thought she saw a look of mingled shock and happiness on Ikuto's face. Of course, she must have simply imagined it. She _was_ tired and sleepy, after all.

"Forget about Tadase."

She was falling asleep, but she felt like Ikuto's words had woken her up. She wasn't the same Amu from two years ago anymore. The one who had gotten a crush on the silly blonde at first sight. She knew who mattered to her more than anything in the world now.

Ikuto. Of course. How had she been so blind?

It was Ikuto.

---

Yay! You all _know_ you were dying for Amutoness. XD

REVIEW!!! REVIEW!!! *demon comes out to haunt you*

I'm gonna take a gamble. If I don't get enough reviews, I won't update. And I hope this works...


	6. Kainashi かいなし

You are not wrong, who deem

That my days have been a dream;

Yet if hope has flown away

In a night, or in a day,

In a vision, or in none,

Is it therefore the less gone?

All that we see or seem

Is but a dream within a dream.

-Edgar Allen Poe

Yeah... so, again, I do not own the characters and so on... Don't sue innocent old me, okay? (Like any kind of lawyer really _would_ read this fanfic)

**Chapter Six: Kainashi**

(Hopeless)

Mitsuki walked to class. She still walked gracefully; her voice still held a musical ringing. However, she no longer spoke in her arrogant manner, and her eyes had lost their fierce look of determination, and any other emotion that would reveal itself in their gray depths. When she spoke, her voice was flat. Contrary to Amu, who seemed to have woken up from a nightmare, she had slipped into a coma, it seemed.

Amu approached the girl. She no longer held a grudge against her. "Good morning."

Mitsuki lifted her eyes upward. Contrary to Amu, she had all the reason in the world to hate her out of jealousy, Ikuto's beloved one, who held the place she so desperately wanted. But hate had left her. She didn't have any hate left in her. Only loneliness, which she had quickly learned to ignore. "Good morning. I hope Nikaidou-sensei enlightens us today on whatever subject he sees fit to instruct." With that, the girl turned her eyes back down to her desk.

Amu frowned. "Are… are you okay?" It was a stupid question, and the pink-haired girl knew it. It was obvious Mitsuki was _not_ okay. But she didn't have anything else she could say.

"Yes. Of course I am." the monotonous reply came.

"Did… did something happen?" Amu still persisted tentatively.

"No." _Yes, something happened. I found I had no place in the world. That's what happened._ "I'm fine." _Better than fine, actually. I no longer have to deal with the hindrance of emotions. Like you silly humans do._

But the bell sounded, and Amu went reluctantly back to her seat, still not reassured, and wondering pointlessly if it was somehow her fault.

---

I looked up at the moon. It was my name, after all. _Full moon._ Mitsuki. What was so great about a big circle of whiteness in the sky was completely beyond me. Who had named me, anyways? No one in particular, really. I was born a Shugo Chara from a beautiful Heart's Egg, knowing my name already.

Sei. My Sei. The girl whose would-be self I was. _Was_. But, she was gone now. Where had she gone? Where did the people who went where she was go? I wanted to know. I _needed_ to know. A Shugo Chara without its owner was without a piece of itself, and for all that I was the Embryo now, I had become an Embryo without an owner, and it still pained me. _Sei, where are you? Why did you have to go?_

Without a care in the world, I jumped out the window from the 5th floor, my apartment. Not that it really mattered; it could have been the 10th or even the 15th floor and I wouldn't have been scratched at all.

I felt numb. I wondered where all my emotions had gone. Was it because I had finally accepted that I was a third wheel? A Chara without an owner, an Embryo without a purpose, a treasure without its Guardians, a girl without love. Maybe they had gone the same place Sei had gone. Maybe my emotions would go to her, and give her strength. But no Shugo Chara, not even me, an Embryo, could follow where she had gone.

Or could I?

I stared at the riverbank I had come across. I was in a human body now… I human body. A human body was fragile and weak. It was good for nothing. It would drown when a Chara could float, freeze when Chara would not be affected, suffocate when a Chara would not even need to breathe. It could die, perish, cease to exist in so many ways. So, could I use this feeble body now to do what I wanted, go where I wanted?

_Sei._ I walked to the riverbank. It was so clear, so glassy, perfectly smooth. It reflected the full moon perfectly. A lovely mirror. It was a shame I'd have to break the surface. Of course, after a while, it'd just go back to its smooth appearance. It was just water, after all. No trace of me would be found. Even after I died, the body would just disappear.

_Sei, where are you?_ I stepped into the water. It was icy cold. Already, I could feel my heart work in a frenzy to restore the heat lost. The effort was pointless; I'd let myself in, why couldn't this stupid heart get the point? Well, it didn't matter now.

_Sei, just wait for me._ I took another step. There was a steep drop here; I slipped under the water. There was nothing my heart could do to keep my body warm until I went out of the water, and nothing my lungs could do to stall for time until I breathed again. So pointless. Life is so pointless.

_I'm almost there._ My vision started to cloud, then darken, and then it disappeared altogether. I couldn't feel the cold anymore. I was well and truly dead. It was possible, after all, for an Embryo, if not a normal Shugo Chara, to die. To follow Sei. My thoughts finally started to fade.

I lost consciousness. My body had finally accepted death.

_I was floating alongside a bright, cheerful, eleven year old girl. She was watering all the beautiful roses. Roses she had grown herself, along all the sidewalks in the town. It was a very small, country town, far away from any real civilization._

_"Mitsuki, Mitsuki! When I grow up, will I really be like you?" She laughed happily, and I laughed too._

_"I want to be like you, though. You can make the flowers so pretty." I loved her. I loved this girl, whose feelings had given birth to me. She looked up to me, I knew, but at the same time, I could not imagine me being a better version of her._

_"Careful of the river!" I warned, as she laughed and skipped on the loose stones of the riverbank._

_"Of course! I'm not an idiot," she said scornfully. "Look, there's Sakura!"_

_The little five-year-old looked up. "Onee-chan! Look! Fish!" she tried to catch one of the little fish that darted around in the water._

_However, her foot slipped._

_"Sakura!" Sei tried to catch the little girl. She managed to pull her up, but she, too, slipped. At the last moment, she managed to push Sakura back onto safe ground before she feel into the river. Her eyes were big with shock as she made a big _splash_ in the water._

_At that moment, a searing pain went through me. I was about to fade into nonexistence. That was what happened to Charas whose owners either died or did not believe in them. They faded before they could feel pain. So, why did I feel pain now?_

_I was still here. I should have faded the moment Sei died. But, instead, I felt like acid had burned away the spot where Sei should have been in my heart. And then, I became an Embryo. A Shugo Chara born of someone pure of heart, with a Chara completely devoid of impurity altogether, and possessing a huge amount of energy. Me._

And then, I woke up.

Yeah... that _might_ have been a _little_ depressing... sorry.

**REVIEW!!! I'm not updating until I get reviews! (Even if it kills me...) (Notice the _s, _by the way.) Sorry, people who _are_ reviewing...**


	7. Uso うそ

Resignedly beneath the sky

The melancholy waters lie.

So blend the turrets and shadows there

That all seem pendulous in air,

While from a proud tower in the town

Death looks gigantically down.

**Heh heh, this chapter is _slightly_ (around 400 words) shorter than the last one. Yup. So, if you got bored last time, hopefully it won't happen again! ^^ Yeah, well, I give up with the disclaimer. I don't see the point in repeating it every time... . Well, whatever. I don't own the characters, so there. Okay. Ahh... I've run out of my supply of premade chapters already, so I'm gonna have to work harder to write everything this time... T.T Oh well... It also means I'll probably write longer... rant things... Yeah... I won't blame you if you don't read them...^^ Don't forget to review! Review! The magic word!**

**Chapter Seven: Uso**

(Lie)

"Mitsuki!" Arasu watched with horror as she walked towards the river, but my throat wouldn't make a sound. Why? Why? Did she really want to die?

She smiled dreamily at the moon. What was she doing? Had she gone insane? "Mitsuki! Stop it!" His voice still wouldn't come out. He was paralyzed, frozen with terror, afraid that one little mistake could send his one and only love to death.

Mitsuki fell – no, stepped – into the water. At that moment, it was as if a bomb had fallen on top of him. Faster than he had ever moved before, he shot into the water and tried to find her. It wasn't easy; the river was very deep, probably three times as deep as he was tall in the center. Thankfully, there was absolutely no current, or if there was, it was so small it was unnoticeable.

However, after several minutes, he finally saw a glimmer of pale, silver hair. With all his strength, he pulled her to the surface, soaking wet, the water seeming to pull her down her down, as if to keep her in its icy cradle, as if to pull her away from him.

She was mumbling something. "Sei. Sei." He started breathing again. He had never noticed he was holding it in, until he started to breathe again. At least she was safe.

At the same time, Arasu felt hopeless. Would she never get over her owner? Would she always try to chase after her? Follow her into death? He had loved her when both of them were Charas, and now, even though he wasn't a Chara anymore, he still loved her. He didn't think he could stand it if she died. Although, she might reject him, if she knew what he had become…

"Arasu…" Arasu froze. He had never told Mitsuki his name since he had… changed. How did she know it was him?

"The violin… Reincarnate…" She was still mumbling nonsense. He relaxed again. Possibly just reliving her past in a dream. "Ikuto…"

He winced. Why? Why did she have to think about _him_, even as he was holding her now? It was so unfair.

---

I woke up. I thought I had crossed over into death. I must have, since I had died, and therefore, the only logical place to wake up would be the place that dead people go. Maybe Sei was here. My hopes were quickly flattened, since I was sitting on a soft bed in a large room. Well, Sei had to be somewhere around here. I knew it, because all my emptiness had been filled, and where I was simply emotionless before, now I felt happy and bubbly. The only emotion I could not find was loneliness.

A person entered the room. A small part of me vaguely registered I had seen him before in this life, but most of me recognized him from before. It was proof that I was dead.

"Arasu!" I laughed. "So you were gone after all. I didn't think Shugo Charas could… die… I suppose, then, that they don't merely fade into nonexistence?" It was a relief. I had always, always worried about where my dear friends would go.

Confusion flickered across his face for a second. Then he blinked, and seemed to realize what I was talking about. Well, I suppose that even dead people forget they died after a while. "Mitsuki, you aren't dead."

I froze. "What?" the words were barely more than a whisper. "I died. I drowned."

"Well…" Awkwardly, he turned his head. "You didn't. I saved you."

I couldn't register the words. I just couldn't. I hadn't done it? After all my mental preparations, after I had just managed to get rid of my fear… here he was telling me I hadn't died after all?

Unexpectedly, fury rose to replace the disappointment. "_What do you mean?! I thought…_" I paused, not quite sure if voicing my belief would make the disappointment that much harder to take. "_I THOUGHT I WOULD SEE SEI AGAIN!_"

Before my anger could peak, though, something pierced through my anger. Reason. Cold, hard reason. Of _course_ I was dead, because if I wasn't… "But…" I realized my voice was trembling. "If… If I'm not dead… why are you here?" He must have simply forgotten about death. He must have

I chanted it like a prayer. He must have forgotten. I was dead. I was dead. I was dead.

"I'm not a Shugo Chara anymore." Something strange flickered across his eyes.

"You're not…"my eyes glazed over. And it was like those words pulled me out of my daydream, out of my past. I had seen him before… in _this_ life. In this form, this human form.

"You weren't reincarnated?"

"Reincarnated?" His voice sounded perplexed. "What do you mean?"

"I always thought… I thought you had died! Faded! And then was reborn!"

"In _who?_" He almost seemed afraid to know the answer. Like he knew it already, and he just didn't want to hear it confirmed.

"I… Ikuto." My words sounded weak and foolish even to myself.

He shook his head disbelievingly. But, he was interrupted by a voice. "You! You have more work to do."

"Work?" My voice was high with surprise. Then I narrowed my eyes. "You attacked me. And you were creating X Eggs, weren't you? That was all you." I didn't want to know if it had also been him playing the violin. Not if he had betrayed me.

"I had no choice." he whispered, and his face was slightly pale. He left.

I stared, shocked. No choice? The Arasu I knew always had a choice. He didn't listen to anyone. And here, he was telling me _he had no choice?_ It was a lie. It wasn't him. It wasn't. It just couldn't be. Yet, I knew that it was. My heart told me so. And if I knew anything, it was that hearts never lie.

What was going on?

**R+R!!! Revieeeewwwwww!!!**

**Well, it's not much of a cliffhanger... ^^ However, you peoples had better hang on (assuming you're reading this, anyways) because there are a LOT of secrets revealed in the next chapter. Yup, I doubt this fanfic's climax is that far away... Hmm... then again, though, maybe not... the BIGGEST secret is still safe...**

**You know, I had a LOT of arguments with myself over what to reveal and what not to reveal... we're probably halfway through the book by now, so I reckon it's safe to let go most of them...**

**Okay, just review. I know I'm being kind of repetitive, but this is to those people who read and don't review... . (That was me, about two months ago, btw.)**


	8. Picture

**Heh heh, you thought this was a chapter, didn't you? ^^**

**Actually, I didn't really want to post the next chapter just yet, because it really really sucks... . Needs more work. LOTS more work. But, my fanfic is sliding down the list. So, my solution is... tada! This barely-400-words chapter!**

Well, I was just feeling like uploading something. So I'm making a character profile. Like, you know, one of those little column thingys that are at the side of manga pages. Only difference is, this isn't a manga, so I'm not putting it at the side of a panel or anything.

Link: http://img06 (dot) picoodle (dot) com/img/img06/3/4/4/faerygirl14/f_arasufinalm_1388f18 (dot) jpg

NO RIPPING WHATESOEVER!!!! I made it and I do not appreciate ANY ripping, stealing, credit-changing, etc. You CAN use it, but link back to this fanfiction. So there.

**You don't really NEED to review, but I WOULD enjoy some feedback on the art? Does it look good? o.o**


	9. Author's Note

Hello! This is me! Well, as soon as I finish chapter 8 in a few days, the story will continue! ^^ Sorry I was away for so long. I wanted to know who Gozen was before I finished chapter 8. You'll see why. ^^ Anyways, I thought I had mentioned this in my last chapter, but when I was re-reading chapter 7 to refresh my memory, I realized I actually HADN'T mentioned it... so... very very sorry. Well, before I decided to wait for Gozen's identity, my files got corrupted, but that's another story... ^^

Anyways, wait for chapter 8 in about two days! ^^ And terribly sorry for not telling you guys... ^^

Ah, btw, I didn't exactly continue my other stories either, huh? Well... think of it as MY vacation, then. ^^

Okay, well, thanks for reading!

PS I was really surprised (*SPOILER IF YOU HAVEN'T READ CHAPTER 40*) about the black embryo egg thingy. It was EXACTLY THE SAME AS MY STORYLINE!!!! WOW!!! I was pretty excited about it all. ^^ I get to say "I told you so" to everyone. ^^ Hee...


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